Ultimate Extinction
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Ultimate Extinction is a comic book published by Marvel Comics and set within Ultimate Marvel continuity. The five-issue (it was originally to be six) limited series began in January 2006 and was written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Brandon Peterson.
Ultimate Extinction is the conclusion of the Ultimate Galactus trilogy, which began with Ultimate Nightmare, and continued with Ultimate Secret. This trilogy focuses on the arrival of "Gah Lak Tus", the Ultimate Marvel Comics version of Galactus. Ultimate Extinction features the introduction of the Ultimate versions of several Marvel characters including Silver Surfer and Misty Knight.
Despite fan speculation and argument to the contrary, the comics in the Ultimate Galactus trilogy and recently published reference materials clearly state that the events of Ultimate Extinction take place before the second volume of The Ultimates.
[edit] Plot synopsis
General Nick Fury, Sam Wilson, Susan Storm, Carol Danvers and Mahr Vehl watch Reed Richards present a timetable and scenario for Gah Lak Tus' destruction of the Earth. Although the group still does not know what Gah Lak Tus is, they know what it will do: unleash a panic-inducing psychic broadcast upon appraoch, disrupt the planet's gravity when in orbit, then release a flesh-dissolving virus (similar to Ebola Zaire) and consume the planet's thermal energy upon landing, destroying all life and rendering the planet unable to support life ever again. Meanwhile, private investigator Misty Knight has been hired to find cult leader named Paul Maitreya. Misty tracks the cult to a penthouse and as she watches, the cult gathers to welcome Maitreya, who is revealed to be an Ultimate version of the Silver Surfer, as "his" entire body appears to be composed of a luminescent silver substance, sporting angular wings in lieu of the mainstream Silver Surfer's board. Without warning, a sniper fires on the gathering near Misty. Misty confronts the sniper, a bald woman with a dragon tattoo, the Ultimate version of Moondragon, but the woman escapes.
Fury enlists the aid of Professor Xavier and Mr. Fantastic to devise separate plans to repulse Gah Lak Tus, who is revealed to be an immense army of robots. Misty Knight, meanwhile, is attacked by Paul Maitreya. Captain America and the Falcon are dispatched to the scene.
The duo fail to apprehend the silver man, and take into custody a very irate Misty Knight. Mr. Fantastic reveals to Sue Storm he has realized a possible "ultimate weapon" to combat Gah Lak Tus. Xavier and Jean Grey construct an amplification device for Cerebro, which allows Xavier to psionically contact Gah Lak Tus while it is in the asteroid belt. The contact proves disasterous, as the mere touch of an organic's mind to Gah Lak Tus' "freaks out" the machine mind, causing it to instantly fire a missile directly at the Triskelion. Iron Man and Captain Marvel move to intercept, only to find the silver orb "missile" morph into another Silver Man, this time riding a board. The two engage the Silver Surfer.
Iron Man diverts all power to his arm servos and pulls the Surfer's head off, causing blue electricity to gush out of the creature's neck. Afterwards, Moondragon attacks the amplification array at the Triskelion, is subsequently captured, and interrogated by Fury, Captain America, and Mahr Vel. She calls herself a priestess, and reveales herself to be one of many clones devoted to preparing the way for the arrival of their space god (Gah Lak Tus.) Captain America and Captain Marvel take a strike team to capture the local Silver Man, Paul Maitreya. They succeed in severing his limbs and taking him back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters for interrogation. In Nevada, meanwhile, Mister Fantastic is working on his weapon, a massive project. Professor X and Jean visit the Vision for information and to ask for assistance. The next morning, an army of Moondragon clones begin surfacing off the Triskelion as Gah Lak Tus begins entering Earth's orbit.
S.H.I.E.L.D. forces struggle against the clone invasion--even Captain America, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and the Falcon aren't enough. As the battle rages, Professor Xavier summons the X-Men to assist while he and Jean focus all their power into linking everyone minds into a single, powerful force with which to attack Gah Lak Tus. The effort only manages to stun the drones. Richards, meanwhile, explains he's been constructing a teleportation device connected to a universe awaiting its Big Bang. His plan is to instigate it with a nuclear weapon and direct the energy towards Gah Lak Tus. The device fires, incinerating 20% of the Gah Lak Tus' collective. The remainder flee, rather than devoting any more energy towards fighting, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. to mop up the clone army and celebrate their victory. Mahr Vel notes that they've only doomed another planet, as Gah Luk Tus will find another target, to which Fury tells him they'll send the Vision ahead of Gah Lak Tus with the blueprints of Richards' ultimate weapon.
[edit] Notes
Despite the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy taking place before The Ultimates Volume 2, the only characters to appear thus far are the Falcon, and the Vision II. This leaves the fates of Mahr Vel*, Misty Knight, Carol Danvers, and the captured Silver Surfer unknown.
- Captain Mahr Vel is noteably absent from the cover art of issue #12, which contains every other Ultimate Marvel superhero.
